Adrift in the Pacific-Two Years Holiday

by Jules Verne

  Suddenly a man rushed from the hall.

  It was Forbes.

  Would he join his old companions now he had forced the door of his prison? Walston thought so.

  ‘Here, Forbes! Here!’ he shouted.

  Evans stopped, and was going to fire, when he saw Forbes dash on to Walston, who, taken by surprise, had to drop Jack and defend himself, and instantly thrust his cutlass into his antagonist.

  Forbes fell at his feet. Walston snatched at Jack, who drew his revolver, and shot him point blank in the throat. Brandt reached the boat and Walston had but just strength enough to follow; and Cook pushed the boat off, when there was a loud report, and a volley of shot rattled into the boat and into the water all round.

  It was the cannon, which Moko had fired through the embrasure.

  With the exception of the two scoundrels who had disappeared in Trap Woods, Charman Island was delivered from the mutineers.

  CHAPTER XIV—AFLOAT ONCE MORE.

  AND now a new era began for the colonists of Charman Island.

  Up to now they had had to struggle for their existence, now they were to work for their deliverance.

  After the excitement caused by the incidents of the strife, a very natural reaction set in.

  They were, as it were, overwhelmed with their success. The danger was over, and it appeared greater than it had ever been—much greater, in fact, than it was. After the first engagement in Trap Woods, their chances had considerably improved. But without Forbes’s intervention, Walston, Cook, and Brandt would have escaped. Moko would not have dared to fire his gun and risk killing Costar and Jack.

  What would then have happened? At what price would Walston have given back his prisoners?

  When Briant and his comrades coolly reviewed the situation, a sort of retrospective terror seized hold of them. It did not last long, for until the fate of Rock and Cope was settled, life on Charman Island could not be considered absolutely safe.

  The heroes of the battle were congratulated as they deserved to be. Moko for his shot with the cannon, Jack for his coolness with the revolver. Fan received her fair share of caresses and a stock of marrowbones, with which Moko regaled her for having so cleverly pinned that rascal, Brandt.

  After Moko’s shower of grape, Briant had returned to the litter. A few minutes afterwards, Donagan had been laid in the hall without having recovered consciousness, while Forbes was laid on the floor of the store-room. All through the night Kate, Gordon, Briant, Wilcox, and Mr. Evans watched over the wounded.

  That Donagan had been seriously hurt was only too evident. But as he respired regularly, it looked as though the lung had not been touched. To dress the wound, Kate had used certain leaves such as are used in Western America, which she found growing on some of the bushes at the river-side. They were leaves of the alder-tree, which rubbed and made into compresses, are very efficacious for checking internal suppuration, in which the chief danger consisted. But with Forbes it was different; Walston had wounded him in the stomach. He knew the thrust was mortal, and when he returned to consciousness, and saw Kate bending over him, he had murmured, —

  ‘Thank you, Kate! Thanks! It is useless! I am done for!’

  And the tears welled into his eyes.

  ‘Hope, Forbes!’ said Evans. ‘You have atoned for your crimes. You will live.’

  No! the unfortunate man was to die. In spite of all that was done, he grew hourly worse, and about four o’clock his spirit passed away.

  They buried him in the morning near Baudoin, and two crosses now mark the two graves.

  But the presence of Rock and Cope was dangerous; security could not be complete until they were unable to do injury. And Evans decided to have done with them before starting for Bear Rock. With Gordon, Briant, Baxter, and Wilcox, he went off that very day, fully armed, and accompanied by Fan, to whose instinct they trusted to recover the trail.

  The search was neither difficult, nor long, nor dangerous. There was nothing to fear from Walston’s mates. Cope was found dead a few yards from where he had received the volley in his back. Pike was found where he had been shot at the beginning of the battle, and the mystery of Rock’s disappearance was soon solved by his being found in one of Wilcox’s traps, which soon served for the grave of all three mutineers.

  When Evans returned with the news that the colony had now nothing to fear, the joy would have been complete, had not Donagan been so grievously wounded. But none could help hoping.

  In the morning there was a discussion as to future plans. It was evident that the first thing to be done was to take possession of the boat. That necessitated a voyage and even a sojourn at Bear Rock where the repairs would have to be made to get her seaworthy. And it was agreed that Evans, Briant, and Baxter, should cross by way of the lake and East River, which was at once the safest and shortest way.

  The yawl had been recovered in one of the backwaters of the river. The men had fallen out of her and been carried away out to sea, and she had been almost unhurt by Moko’s volley which had passed just over her. She was brought back to French Den and loaded with tools and provisions, and with a favourable wind, she was off on the 6th of December in Evans’s charge.

  She was soon across the lake, and before half-past eleven, Briant pointed out the creek by which the river entered. Running down with the tide, she was soon down the river, and on the sand near Bear Rock they found the Severn boat high and dry.

  After a careful examination, Evans reported as follows: —

  ‘We have the needful tools, but we want timber for the ribs and planking. Now at French Den, you have the remains of the schooner which would work in admirably. And if we could get the boat round to Zealand River—’

  ‘Which I am afraid is impossible,’ said Briant.

  ‘I don’t think so,’ continued Evans. ‘If the boat can be got from Severn Shore to Bear Rock, why can’t it be got from Bear Rock to Zealand River? We could do the work there so much more easily, and from French Den we could go down to Schooner Bay, and then start for the voyage home.’

  If the plan could be carried out, nothing could be better. And it was decided to make the attempt next morning’s tide, the boat being towed up by the yawl. And at once Evans set to work to plug the leaks with pieces of tow that he had brought with him from French Den, which occupied him till somewhat late in the evening.

  The night passed quietly enough in the cavern where Donagan and his companions had camped on their first visit to Deception Bay.

  Next morning the boat was got afloat, and the yawl went ahead to tow her along. Hard work it was, and when the ebb made itself felt, the work was harder, and it was not till five o’clock that evening that they got her into the lake.

  Evans did not think it prudent to cross that night, and so he pitched his camp on the shore under a big beech-tree, where all slept soundly till the morning.

  Then ‘Aboard!’ was the word, and the sail was set, and with the heavy boat behind her, away went the yawl for French Den. The boat was full of water to the thwarts, and if she had sunk, would have dragged down the yawl with her, so that Evans stood ready all the time to cut the tow tope. But, fortunately, all went well, and at five o’clock the boat and her tug were in Zealand River, moored off the pier.

  While the boys had been away, Donagan had become a little better, and was now able to return the pressure of the hand that Briant gave him. His breathing came more easily, and evidently the lung was safe. Although he was kept on a low diet, his strength began to return, and under Kate’s leaf compresses, which she renewed every two hours, the wound began to close. Probably his convalescence would take some time, but he had sufficient vitality to make his recovery almost a certainty.

  The work was begun in earnest next morning. A long pull, and a strong pull, was required to begin with to get the boat ashore.

  Evans, who was as good a carpenter as he was a sailor, could appreciate Baxter’s skill. There was no scarcity of materials or tools. With the remains of the sch
ooner’s hull, they could replace the broken ribs and gaping strakes, and old tow steeped in pine sap served to caulk every leak and make her thoroughly water-tight.

  The boat, or sloop as we might as well call her, had a half-deck forward, which secured a shelter against the weather that was likely, however, to give little trouble in this second half of the summer. The passengers could stay on this deck or below it as they pleased. The top mast of the schooner did for the main-mast, and Kate, under Evans’s directions, managed to cut a lug main-sail out of the spare fore-sail, besides a lug mizzen and a good sized fore-sail. Under this lug rig the boat would be well balanced and very weatherly. The work took thirty days, and was not over before the 8th of January. In the meantime, Christmas had been kept with a certain ceremony, as also had New Year’s Day of 1862, the last the colonists hoped to see on Charman Island.

  Donagan’s convalescence had now sufficiently advanced for him to be taken out of doors, although he was still very weak. The fresh air and more substantial food visibly improved him; and his comrades had no intention of going away before he was able to endure a voyage of some weeks without fear of a relapse.

  The usual daily round had been resumed at French Den, although the lessons were rather neglected, for did not the youngsters consider they were entitled to a holiday? And so Wilcox and Cross and Webb went out again on their sporting excursions over South Moors and through the thickets of Trap Woods. Now they scorned traps and snares, and in spite of the advice of Gordon, who was always careful of ammunition, they blazed away to their hearts’ content, and Moko’s larder became stocked with fresh venison, which came in handy for preserving for the voyage.

  If Donagan had been able to resume his functions as hunter-in-chief to the colony, with what ardour would he have gone at all this furred and feathered game, now that he no longer had to be sparing of his powder and shot! A bitter disappointment it was to him not to be able to join his comrades. But he had to be resigned to it, and commit no imprudence.

  During the last days of January, Evans began to stow his cargo. Briant and the others would have liked to take with them all that remained of the schooner; but that was impossible, and they had to make a choice.

  In the first place, Gordon brought on board the money that was on the yacht, and which they might find useful in getting them back home. Moko required enough provisions for seventeen people, not only for a short passage of three weeks, but in case they were compelled by some accident to land on one of the islands of the archipelago before reaching Punta Arena, Port Gallant, or Port Tamar. Then what was left of the ammunition was stowed away in the lockers, as were the guns and revolvers. And even Donagan asked that the two little cannon should not be left behind.

  Briant took care that there was taken a good assortment of clothes, most of the books in the library, the principal cooking-utensils—among them one of the stoves from the store-room—and the instruments needful for navigation, the chronometers, glasses, compasses, log, lanterns, and of course the Halkett boat. Wilcox chose among his nets and lines those that would be of most use for fishing on the voyage.

  The fresh water, taken from Zealand River, was put into a dozen small barrels Gordon arranged along the carline in the boat’s hold. And the spirits and liqueurs were not forgotten, nor were those made from the trulcas and the algarrobes.

  On the 3rd of February all the cargo was in its place, and it only remained to fix the date of sailing, if Donagan was strong enough to stand the voyage. The brave fellow answered for himself that he was. His wound had cicatrized, and his appetite had returned, and all he had to do was not to eat too much. Assisted by Briant and Kate, he now took a walk on the terrace every day.

  ‘Let us be off,’ he said, ‘let us be off. I long to be on the way home. The sea will soon set me up.’

  The departure was fixed for the 5th of February.

  The evening before, Gordon set at liberty all the domestic animals. The guanacos, vicugnas, ostriches, and all cleared off at full speed of their legs and wings, without even a ‘Thank you!’ for the kindness that had been showered upon them. The instinct of liberty is irresistible.

  ‘The ungrateful beggars!’ said Garnett, ‘after all that we have done for them!’

  ‘It’s the way of the world!’ said Service, so solemnly that there was a general shout of laughter.

  In the morning the boys embarked in the sloop with the yawl in tow. Donagan was laid aft near Evans, who took charge of the tiller. In the bow Briant and Moko looked after the sails, although they trusted to the current to take them down the river.

  The others, including Fan, were where fancy led them.

  The moorings were cast off, and the sweeps struck the water.

  Three cheers saluted the hospitable cave which for so many months had afforded the boys a shelter, and it was not without emotion that they saw Auckland Hill disappear behind the trees.

  In descending the river, the sloop went no faster than the current, which was very rapid. At noon, when close to the swamp in Bog Woods, Evans anchored, for in that part of the course the river was shallow, and it was better to wait for the tide than run the risk of grounding.

  During the halt the passengers indulged in a hearty meal, after which Cross and Wilcox went off snipe-shooting on the skirt of South Moors. From the stern of the sloop Donagan managed to bring down a brace of tinamous. Needless to say that after that he was quite well.

  It was very late when the boat reached the river mouth; and as the darkness made the steering difficult through the reefs, Evans, cautious seaman as he was, thought he had better wait till daybreak.

  The night was quiet enough. The wind dropped, and when the sea-birds had got back to their holes in the rocks, absolute silence reigned in Schooner Bay.

  In the morning the land-breeze blew, and the sea was calm to the very extreme point of South Moors. At daybreak Evans made sail, and the sloop headed out of Zealand River. Every look was turned on Auckland Hill and the rocks of Schooner Bay, which disappeared as American Cape was rounded; and a cannon-shot was fired as the red ensign was run up to the mizen.

  Eight hours later the sloop entered the channel bordered by the shore of Cambridge Island, doubled South Cape, and followed the coast of Queen Adelaide Island, as the last point of Charman Island disappeared on the horizon.

  CHAPTER XV—HOME.

  WE need not give the log of the sloop’s passage through the waterways of the Magellanic Archipelago. It was marked by no adventure of importance. The weather remained fine throughout, and in these channels of six or seven miles across the sea is never very rough.

  The course was deserted, and this was rather a matter for congratulation, as the natives of the islands are not always in a hospitable humour. Once or twice during the night fires were noticed well inland, but nobody appeared on the beach.

  On the 11th of February the sloop, which had been favoured with a fair wind all the time, entered the Straits of Magellan down Smyth Channel, between the west coast of Queen Adelaide Island and the heights of King William Land. To the right rose the peak of St Anne. To the left, at the bottom of Beaufort Bay, were the ends of some of the glaciers that Briant had seen from Hanover Island.

  All went well on board. The sea air just suited Donagan, who now felt quite equal to landing again if necessary, and resuming the Crusoe life.

  During the 12th of February the sloop arrived in sight of Tamar Island, where the haven or creek held at the time no occupant. Without stopping, Evans doubled Tamar Cape and headed south-east into the Straits.

  On one side the long Land of Desolation developed its flat and arid shores, showing no trace of the rich vegetation of Charman Island. On the other was the capriciously indented Crocker Peninsula along which Evans intended to coast so as to get round Cape Froward, and run up the coast of the Brunswick Peninsula to Punta Arena.

  It was not necessary for him to go so far.

  In the morning of the 13th, Service, who was on the look-out in the bow, rep
orted—

  ‘Smoke on the starboard bow!’

  ‘The smoke of a fisherman’s fire?’ asked Gordon.

  ‘No,’ said Evans, ‘that is a steamer’s smoke.’

  In that direction the land was too far off for the smoke from a camp to be seen.

  Immediately Briant climbed to the mast-head.

  ‘A ship! a ship!’ he shouted.

  The ship was soon in sight from the deck. It was a steamer of about eight hundred tons, approaching at the rate of eleven knots an hour.

  There were cheers from the sloop, and some of the guns were fired. She was sighted, and ten minutes afterwards she was alongside the Grafton, bound to Australia.

  Captain Long, of the Grafton, was immediately told of the wreck of the schooner, the news of which had been very widely spread in England and America, and at once took the sloop’s passengers on board. He even offered to take them on direct to Auckland, which would not be very far out of his road, for the Grafton’s destination was Melbourne, in the south of Australia.

  The voyage was a quick one, and on the 25th of February the steamer cast anchor in Auckland Harbour.

  Within a few days two years had elapsed since the fifteen pupils from Charman’s School had been cast adrift in the Pacific.

  We need not dwell on the joy of the families to whom the boys came back. Of all who had been carried away that long eighteen hundred leagues from New Zealand, not one was missing. When the news spread that the Grafton was in the harbour with the boys on board, the whole town turned out to welcome them.

  And how everyone longed to hear in detail all that had passed on Charman Island! And curiosity was soon gratified. Donagan gave a few lectures on the subject, and the lectures were a great success; and Donagan was very proud indeed of their success. Then the log which had been kept by Baxter—almost hour by hour, we might say—had been printed, and hundreds of copies were sold. And the newspapers ‘reviewed’ the journal so as to give all that was interesting in it with the least trouble to themselves; and, in short, the whole of Australasia became interested in the story of the strange adventure. And Gordon’s prudence, Briant’s unselfishness, Donagan’s intrepidity, and the true manliness of all became the themes of general admiration.